Teaching fiction: Decline and fall

last updated:25 Jan 2010

Evelyn Waugh’s first novel Decline and Fall, written in 1928 at the age of 25, quickly established his reputation as a writer. It draws on his own experiences as a student and teacher – and perhaps, as Tim Briggs tells us, it’s just as well things have changed since then. This is the latest in the 'Teaching fiction' series published in Teaching, the GTC magazine.

Mild-mannered Paul Pennyfeather intended to join the Church but drifted into teaching following an Oxford 'Bollinger Club' de-trousering for which he was framed and sent down. (Any resemblance between the Bollinger Club and Boris and Dave’s real-life Bullingdon Club is very much intentional.)

In London with no prospects, Paul registers with a scholastic recruitment agency. Despite the job spec he is advised to keep quiet about his lack of German and inability with a cricket bat – and having turned the misleading phrase 'indecent behaviour' into 'education discontinued for personal reasons', he is soon on the train to North Wales.

Llanabba Castle is a small, shabby 'level 4' public school (there’s 'bog-standard' for you, 1928 vintage) at which – contrary to his own expectations – Paul is a success. He creates a performance management system under which the boys get cash for the longest essays, regardless of merit. He keeps order better than his colleagues. Moreover Paul, unlike his predecessor, is savvy enough to avoid borrowing large sums of money from his charges.

As so often happens when one is new, keen, and more efficient than the old lags, extra responsibilities soon land in Paul’s lap; there’s not only PE, but woodwork as well, and the fire drill, and he’s put in charge of the fifth form. He even gives a weekly organ lesson; Paul can’t play, and neither can his pupil young Beste-Chetwynde.

Some aspects of Llanabba seem very familiar. School assemblies are in two parts: first half, religious; second half, club cancellations and reminders not to smoke on school premises. And there’s an easy intimacy in the staffroom which we would all understand: yesterday’s papers, some very old textbooks, one umbrella, and not enough wine glasses to go round.

'We need vision, not diplomas,' the head Dr Fagan tells Paul, and the vision that causes him most difficulty is the decision to hold sports day with 24 hours notice. For a while, Llanabba manages to present its best face to visiting parents. But then a pupil is shot – never to recover – by the starting pistol, and despite Paul’s efforts the day descends into chaos. Time for Beste-Chetwynde’s mother to remove that nice Mr Pennyfeather from the school for her own use. Teaching 'discontinued for personal reasons …'

Tim Briggs teaches at The Cotswold school, a comprehensive in Gloucestershire.

Teaching fiction
Unpick the teaching style of your favourite fictional teacher. We'd particularly like a piece about a teacher of primary-age pupils. If you are a registered, serving teacher, send the first 50 words of your piece to magazine@gtce.org.uk and we’ll select an article for the next issue of Teaching magazine. This will be the last in the 'Teaching fiction' series.